Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality
Mental imagery practice is widely used to help athletes prepare for competitions, as it can produce motor actions that enhance performance. The goal of imagery training for athletes is to create realistic images in their minds and to familiarize them with certain procedures, environments, and other...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Virtual Reality |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2023.1189717/full |
| _version_ | 1797743276437012480 |
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| author | Yuanjie Wu Stephan Lukosch Heide Lukosch Robert W. Lindeman Ryan Douglas McKee Shunsuke Fukuden Cameron Ross Cameron Ross Dave Collins Dave Collins |
| author_facet | Yuanjie Wu Stephan Lukosch Heide Lukosch Robert W. Lindeman Ryan Douglas McKee Shunsuke Fukuden Cameron Ross Cameron Ross Dave Collins Dave Collins |
| author_sort | Yuanjie Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mental imagery practice is widely used to help athletes prepare for competitions, as it can produce motor actions that enhance performance. The goal of imagery training for athletes is to create realistic images in their minds and to familiarize them with certain procedures, environments, and other aspects related to competition. Traditional imagery training methods use still images or videos, and athletes study the pictures or watch the videos in order to mentally rehearse. However, factors such as distractions and low realism can affect the training quality. In this paper, we present a Virtual Reality (VR) solution and a study that explores our hypotheses that H1: high-fidelity VR systems improve mental imagery skills, that H2: the presence of elements such as virtual onlookers or photographers in the VR environment arouse stronger emotional reactions and affect, and that H3: the presence of elements such as onlookers or photographers in the VR environment results in better mental imagery skill improvement. For that purpose, seven elite snow sports athletes were exposed to three training methods, Video, VR-Empty, and VR-Crowded. Our results show that a VR simulation with virtual onlookers (VR-Crowded) can significantly increase heart rate, which can induce increased emotional arousal. The results from validated questionnaires show no significant difference for the three training methods in terms of mental imagery and affect, but the results show an ascending trend for the athlete’s arousal from Video to the VR-Crowded condition. Gaze detection heat maps of interest areas for the two VR conditions support hypothesis H2 that environmental factors such as the presence of photographers, staff, and onlookers can increase head and eye movement, possibly indicating an increase in emotional arousal during imagery training. According to verbal feedback and interviews, athletes are more likely to use innovative training methods (e.g., the high-fidelity VR method) than traditional video-training methods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:53:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e340fa4134f54e52a23cf3cfe4b24a2e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4192 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:53:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Virtual Reality |
| spelling | doaj.art-e340fa4134f54e52a23cf3cfe4b24a2e2023-08-15T08:46:05ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Virtual Reality2673-41922023-08-01410.3389/frvir.2023.11897171189717Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual realityYuanjie Wu0Stephan Lukosch1Heide Lukosch2Robert W. Lindeman3Ryan Douglas McKee4Shunsuke Fukuden5Cameron Ross6Cameron Ross7Dave Collins8Dave Collins9HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandHIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandHIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandHIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandHIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandHIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandSnow Sports New Zealand, Wanaka, New ZealandHigh Performance Sport New Zealand, Auckland, New ZealandGrey Matters Performance Ltd., Stratford Upon Avon, United KingdomSchool of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomMental imagery practice is widely used to help athletes prepare for competitions, as it can produce motor actions that enhance performance. The goal of imagery training for athletes is to create realistic images in their minds and to familiarize them with certain procedures, environments, and other aspects related to competition. Traditional imagery training methods use still images or videos, and athletes study the pictures or watch the videos in order to mentally rehearse. However, factors such as distractions and low realism can affect the training quality. In this paper, we present a Virtual Reality (VR) solution and a study that explores our hypotheses that H1: high-fidelity VR systems improve mental imagery skills, that H2: the presence of elements such as virtual onlookers or photographers in the VR environment arouse stronger emotional reactions and affect, and that H3: the presence of elements such as onlookers or photographers in the VR environment results in better mental imagery skill improvement. For that purpose, seven elite snow sports athletes were exposed to three training methods, Video, VR-Empty, and VR-Crowded. Our results show that a VR simulation with virtual onlookers (VR-Crowded) can significantly increase heart rate, which can induce increased emotional arousal. The results from validated questionnaires show no significant difference for the three training methods in terms of mental imagery and affect, but the results show an ascending trend for the athlete’s arousal from Video to the VR-Crowded condition. Gaze detection heat maps of interest areas for the two VR conditions support hypothesis H2 that environmental factors such as the presence of photographers, staff, and onlookers can increase head and eye movement, possibly indicating an increase in emotional arousal during imagery training. According to verbal feedback and interviews, athletes are more likely to use innovative training methods (e.g., the high-fidelity VR method) than traditional video-training methods.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2023.1189717/fullVirtual Reality (VR)mental imagerypositive and negative affectsports trainingelite athletes |
| spellingShingle | Yuanjie Wu Stephan Lukosch Heide Lukosch Robert W. Lindeman Ryan Douglas McKee Shunsuke Fukuden Cameron Ross Cameron Ross Dave Collins Dave Collins Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality Frontiers in Virtual Reality Virtual Reality (VR) mental imagery positive and negative affect sports training elite athletes |
| title | Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| title_full | Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| title_fullStr | Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| title_short | Training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| title_sort | training mental imagery skills of elite athletes in virtual reality |
| topic | Virtual Reality (VR) mental imagery positive and negative affect sports training elite athletes |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2023.1189717/full |
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